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Harrison was originally scheduled to open its softball season Thursday.

The Raiders are defending sectional champions and returned a talented roster. First-year head coach Kelsi Rynard never got beyond tryouts with her new team.

The day of the first official team meeting, Rynard received an email informing her it, along with subsequent scheduled team events, needed to be postponed.

"It is incredibly hard not being able to be on field with them, but not even being able to see them," Rynard said. "Email and text communication is not enough right now for what I know these girls are going through.

"I almost feel helpless in a sense there's nothing anyone can do for them. You can't even say it is going to be OK. Eventually it will be, but they miss out on what is a big part of their senior year."

Rynard was sympathetic towards a senior group, including multiple players who may receive a trickle down as they go off to play in college.

Rynard, a former softball player at Louisville, noted that some are hopeful of receiving playing time as college freshmen. The National Collegiate Athletic Association recently granted spring sports athletes an additional year of eligibility because of the pandemic wiping out most of the season.

Now fifth-year seniors may have roster positions locked down that incoming freshmen may have competed for.

High school spring seasons had been delayed when Holcomb originally ordered schools to use remote learning for educational purposes through May 1.

"For a lot of seniors, it is our last time not only playing this sport, but playing an organized sport," said McCutcheon senior tennis player Bailey Burton. "When we originally were out two weeks, I thought maybe there was still a chance. When they pushed it back through all of April, I assumed it was over, but I don't think it makes this easier to take."

Burton, coming off shoulder surgery, originally thought she'd be sidelined for tennis season, only to recently find out she would recover and be ready to play. For the second time, she had to come to grips that her high school athletic career was over.

John Froedge, who became the head baseball coach at Crawfordsville in 1982, announced in November that the 2020 season would be his last in a hall of fame career that includes two state championships.

But the season wasn't about him.

It was about one final run with the kids. And now that, too, is gone.

The veteran coach put the reality of the situation into perspective.

"As disappointed as everyone is (and believe me, I am too), there are bigger and more important things to be concerned about right now," Froedge said via text message. "With proper guidance, the senior athletes will get through this tough time and hopefully be even better for the challenges they've faced. I would have loved the opportunity to go through the 2020 season with the group we had."

The IHSAA had previously waived its required 10-practice rule for competition, lowering it to five, which meant May 4 would be the first practice and May 9 would be the first date teams could compete.

Athletic directors scrambled to find ways to get events scheduled for that date.

Coaches put plans in place just in case to be adequately prepared for a May 4 practice.

Though recent developments in the spread of Covid-19 meant that was unlikely, those dates were still a sign of hope for student-athletes and coaches that a season would resume at some point.

Which is why, even if expected, Thursday's news came down hard.

"They give so much time and commitment and they want nothing more than to walk off the field, even with a loss, in the sectional," McTagertt said. "When you're older you get together, you don't talk about math class was so much fun. You talk about the games."

Now, they'll talk about the season that wasn't.

Sam King covers high school sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.